Monthly GDP Estimates for December

24th February 2021

Scotland's GDP fell by 0.3% in December, according to statistics announced today by the Chief Statistician. This is the second consecutive monthly fall in GDP, as restrictions on economic activity continued at the start of the month and were later extended across Scotland after Christmas. Output remains 7.2% below the level in February, prior to the direct impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December there was total growth of 0.3% across the services sector, but further falls in the subsectors which are directly impacted by the restrictions in Protection Levels 1 to 4. The manufacturing and construction sectors are both estimated to have fallen by 2.4% in December, which are the first falls in these industries since April.

GDP is provisionally estimated to have increased by 1.6% in Quarter 4 as a whole (October to December) compared to Quarter 3. In annual terms, comparing 2020 to 2019, GDP is provisionally estimated to have fallen by 10.6%. These results will be updated in the national statistics GDP First Estimate for Quarter 3, which will be published on 17 March.